Blackout shutters Milpitas businesses

An outage caused by an equipment failure late Friday afternoon resulted in more than 3,600 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers having to make do without power for up to three hours.

The outage affected homes and businesses on North Milpitas Boulevard north of Yosemite Drive to Jacklin Road, including Tramway Drive, Escuela Parkway and Santa Rita Drive, starting around 4 p.m.

While businesses including Peet's Coffee and Tea and Jamba Juice closed, stores such as Safeway and Staples remained open using back-up generators.

The majority of the lights in Safeway were off during the blackout.

"The power outage was confined and management determined it was safe for customers to shop," said Safeway Inc. spokesperson Wendy Gutshall. "As is our policy, protective measures started immediately and stores follow food safety guidelines as an abundance of caution. The refrigeration cases' temperature control were monitored and cold foods were covered while hot foods were pulled during the outage."

The cause of power failure is under investigation, said PG&E spokesperson Monica Tell. Electricity was fully restored by 7:01 p.m.

On the Milpitas Post Facebook page, Kanya Jade Yoshihiro wrote, "It was entertaining working at Peet's today. People were walking in thinking we were going for Ômood lighting.'"

Contact Aliyah Mohammed at amohammed@themilpitaspost.com or 408-262-2454. Visit us on our social media sites at facebook.com/milpitaspost and twitter.